Fallout Equestria: Shaping Shadow
Fallout Equestria: Shaping Shadow is and ongoing Side Story written by Mindrop. It Chronicles the life and change of Shadow Flare, a cloud farmer, as he goes from his small community into the Enclave military and then below. It also chronicles the changes of the wasteland leading up to the original story. It begins around ten years before Little Pip begins her adventures. *Some of the information given below may be considered a spoiler and others may have a slot, but be left without information until they are introduced in the story. Synopsis The Enclave survives because of it's cloud farmers. Shadow Flare was raised on one of the oldest and largest cloud farms known as a homestead, way in the north at the edge of the Enclave. Shadow Flare has the heart of a farmer, but not the size. Shadow Flare stopped growing at a young age and looks like a small mare. His voice isn't much better. Still, he does his best, no matter what, to do his duty and feed the Pegasus Race. The Enclave is running low on raw materials and the wasteland below has more than enough. Shadow Flare found it his duty, his fate, to not only join, but to help the Enclave begin to first reach below the clouds. What they do below will impact the wasteland forever, good or bad. What he does, shapes the wasteland for Little Pip and beyond. But hardship and struggle isn't just below in the wasteland, but above as well. A broken heart, and a lost love, is universal. BOOKS Book 1: Training Part 1: Loyalty Part 2: Duty Part 3: Honor Part 4: Commitment Book 2: Mission Part 1: Part 2: Part 3: Part 4: Part 5: Part 6: Setting The story's setting changes as time goes. The first setting is Shadow Flare's home, the Turnip Homestead. The second is Fort Wind, where a lot of the Enclave's military training happens. Third is the wasteland, based out of the Rosemary Outpost. Characters Shadow Flare Born in the northern reaches of the Enclave, to the Turnip Homestead Cloud farm, he is small for even a normal pegasus. Crisp white coat contrasted with a jet black mane, Shadow Flare is often mistaken as a mare, both visually and with his voice. When he joins the Enclave Military, he is sized as a mare for uniforms. Size aside, he is cloud farmer in every other way. Community and family are the most important things in his life. Duty to the Pegasus Race comes in a close third. To his family and community, their duty is to feed the Pegasus Race. Shadow Flare doesn't know when to quit and gives it his all. Endurance was part of growing up. A job had to be done, no matter how skilled you were, everything was given until the job was done. Shadow chose to pursue the military in part because he was having a problem finding his place in the community. He was not much help on the farms. Shadow Flare grew up doing acrobatics. He is more familiar with his hooves than his wings. His father, Lance, began training Shadow at an early age. The acrobatics are trained through obstacle courses forcing Shadow to think quick and act fast. They do not stay on one level, but go up and down. Shadow Flare earned his Cutie Mark on the obstacle courses. Three arrowheads with a sword in the center of each. Each sword has three lightning bolts cutting across it. It represents the key to acrobatics and life. Speed, Power and Agility. Each key aspect helps Shadow Flare excel in the military. They stand out perfectly against his white coat and compliment his black mane. Shadow Flare's foundation is his family and his community. With them as his foundation, he can push himself to the limit and hold it there. While he may not be suited for life in the harsh cloud farming where his family lives, Shadow Flare learned the essential skills for farming. Those skills go beyond plants and into work ethic. He is stubborn, doing what he has set his mind to, when he needs to. Shadow Flare builds friendships and deep connections with the soldiers he trains and works with, like the community back home. Cardinal Spitfire An actual descendant of the Spitfire, Cardinal Spitfire joined the military the same time as Shadow Flare. She has the same drive and much of the same upbringing as Shadow Flare. Initially set against Shadow Flare, she sets it aside when there is more important things to deal with in training. Paired up with Shadow as battle buddies, she quickly helps push their team and then unit further and to set new records. Cardinal Spitfire is named for her heritage and her coat. A cardinal coat with a soft yellow mane. He Cutie Mark is a lighting bolt who's head is a flame. She is small for a mare and slightly smaller than Shadow Flare. Size Comparison A size comparison between Shadow Flare, Cardinal Spitfire, a typical male Enclave Soldier and Marble Falls. Images are from Brisineo or created on generalzoi's pony creator. New Creatures New Factions Enclave Groups Aerial Combat Unit Aerial Combat Units, also known as ACUs, work with special air/ground tactics. There are limited spots to join and Aerial Combat School, ACS, is done on a need to basis. Upon completing ACS, the soldier receives Silver Wings for their uniform, to replace their previous device. The Silver Wings are the second most prestigious uniform device, the first being Wonderbolts. All ACUs are a 4-6 pony Unit with a number designation. They try and keep them at full strength, but ACS timings do mean that members retire. All ACUs are primarily based out of Fort Wind, at the Squad Barracks. They retain a small Unit, barracks style, with 6 single beds. Almost all ACUs have a secondary post where they spend their time and have private rooms. Those Units return for training and other recalls when needed. The philosophy behind ACUs is not just aerial combat, but dropping in and setting up advanced lines for light troopers and other soldiers to form up. Dropping in to take out a building, group, capture supplies, perform recon and other duties that require small teams or several small teams to get in and out quickly. Scout Command controls the ACUs. Not all ACUs are Scouts, but all Scouts are ACUs. The ACU program is being rapidly expanded. UNIT 0 Unit 0 is the ACUs' medical team. They were reorganized to remove the medics in some of the ACUs so that they could put a 6th combat member into those Units. Unit 0 was supposed to back up ACUs by attaching one our two combat medics to outgoing Units, mission dependent, to play a normal support role. Unit 0 tends the Squad Barracks' clinic and watches over ACU training, Aerial Combat School and all five of the recruit flight decks when Basic Training Barracks are learning aerial combat techniques. Unit 0 is the forgotten Unit. It has lost it's focus because of so much downtime. Their members do not have Silver Wings and are out of shape. They are unable to perform their roles and have only 11 NCOs. There is not enough medics to function with all the ACUs if needed. The program is being rebuilt with an officer in charge. Unit 731 Third Fleet Special Training Equaggan War Weapons Equaggan War Weapons Training, EWW, is a special, classified training that is available to the select few. It is a well kept secret. The Enclave officially named the war the Equaggan war. A mix of each race's technical names, Equestrian and the Zebra's name, Quagga. The training is focused on weapons from the war on both sides, but it's predominant focus is on the foreign Zebra weapons and enchanted weapons. Technical Magical Training Technical Magical Training, TMT, is a special, classified training that is available to the select few mechanical and engineering soldiers. It is a well kept secret that focus on the advances and mix of the technology and magic that makes up many of the advances made during the war. It is an attempt to give soldiers a better understanding of those advancements. New Technology Pegasus Power Armor Variants Over the years, the Enclave has developed several variants of Pegasus power armor. The original model is designated as the Mark 1. The Mark 2 was developed about 50 years after the sealing of the clouds to increase their power armor numbers and prove they could do it without help from the Ministry of Wartime Technology. The Mark 2 is a stronger and hardier variant than the Mark 1. It had the advantage of time and use to see where to improve it. It also had the advantage of abundant resources for it's development and production. The Mark 2 is considered the pinnacle of the pegasus power armor variants and it is the most aesthetically pleasing. The Mark 3 was designed with resource protection in mind while boosting the number of power armored soldiers. It is the weakest of the variants but still provides the wearer with superior armor to basic plate armor. Because it was designed to use as little resources as possible, it is ugly armor. Functional but ugly. Mark 3s make up half of the pegasus power armor in the Enclave. The Mark 4 was released a few years before Shaping Shadow begins. The armor was designed for specialized use and produced in lower quantities. Few consider it better than the Mark 2, although it does edge out the Mark 2 on all tests. The Mark 2 is still considered better, in part because of aesthetics. While it does not have the beauty of the Mark 2, it has a sharp, intimidating image. Pegasus power armor from the war are still being used. The power armor is almost always painted black or a dark green. Most power armor is used by heavy weapons units and other units designated to be the first in. Aerial Combat Units sometimes use power armor, but often chose medium plate armor for maneuverability. The Wonderbolts all use power armor, although the model is up to the individual. All of their armor is painted with their colors. Any power armor used by the Wonderbolts has been further fine tuned and enhanced. Most prefer the Mark 2, but the Mark 4 is gaining acceptance. No Wonderbolt would be caught dead in Mark 3 armor, even modified Mark 3. Delta Rifle Modification Rifles have developed different models over the years. Delta is the designation given to rifles that have been modified to tie into the E.F.S. of power armor. The Delta models are the first to connect the rifle and the E.F.S. system. They are brand new, only coming into play over the ten years before the book. They help compensate for the distance errors in the E.F.S. with minor maneuverability from their mounts. GPER - Grand Pegasus Enclave Rifle The rifle is usually called by its phonetic name, Jeeper. It is a battle rifle for a battle saddle and the first post war rifle the Enclave developed. The Alpha variant is short barreled while the Bravo variant is a longer barrel. The rifle is made to take one of two rounds. The 76-2 fires the 7.62mm round. The 55-6 fires the 5.56mm round. EMG - Enclave Machine Gun The EMG is a fully automatic machine gun designed to be used on a battle saddle. It is lightweight and fires 5.56mm rounds. There is a rare 76-2 variant. The gun is fed by a 30 round box magazine. The EMG was developed from the MG, Machine Gun, the prewar version. The decades took their tole on the original MGs, forcing replacements to be made. The replacement was named the EMG to lay claim to the rifle design, despite no changes being made. Novasurge Battlerifle The Novasurge Battlerifle is an improved variant on the original. It sacrifices rate of fire for an even more powerful blast. Only 7 were produced, one for each member of the Inquisitors and then the prototype model for their first officer. Technology #1 New Locations Major new locations found only in Shaping Shadow. (Under Construction) Enclave Homesteads A Homestead is an original Cloud Farm. When the clouds were sealed up, the Homesteads were founded. Not all cloud farms became Homesteads. A Homestead had to meet requirements, including time spent before the war as a cloud farm and the food it produced. Homesteads have considerably more land than most farms, typically four times as much. There at 48 Homesteads and 12 subsidiary Homesteads. A subsidiary Homestead is a branch from the Homestead. Sent out with the Homestead's approval to create a new farm in new land. Each Homestead keeps perfect records about their linage. Homesteads regularly arrange marriages among themselves to keep themselves strong. Homestead's hold considerable political weight. Most judges will immediately grant requests from a Homestead. A Homestead never has to worry about population control. Still, they stay out of politics, focusing on their duty to farm. El Nino El Nino is a village in the west of the Northern Farming District. It is one of two cities in the district and is peaceful and quite. None of the buildings are above three stories. It's a well structured village. After harvest, the nearby farms come in to sell and trade products, acquire the items they need for the upcoming year and other business. There is no Enclave presence in the city, outside the recruiter. Cherry Town Cherry Town is a village in the East of the Northern Farming District. It is one of two cities in the district and is peaceful and quite. None of the buildings are above three stories. It's a well structured village. It was named for the Cherry Homestead, who associates themselves with Cherry Town. After harvest, the nearby farms come in to sell and trade products, acquire the items they need for the upcoming year and other business. There is no Enclave presence in the city, outside the recruiter. Mountain Ridge Mountain Ridge is a small town south of the Northern Farming District. A good day's flight by Enclave records. It is only mentioned as a stopping point while Shadow travels to Fort Wind. New Heaven New Heaven is a large town outside of Fort Wind, only a relaxed two hour flight. It is a quiet town, and has little need for Law Enforcement officers. When Basic Training graduation comes, the city is flooded with family and friends coming to see their love one graduate. Graduation brings in a lot of money for the town. Soldiers get a few days off and typically spend it with their family in town. The city also gets plenty of income from visiting soldiers who have a few days leave, 3 days or less. Fort Wind Fort Wind is the training base for all Enclave soldiers. Basic Training is conducted there. Almost all of the personnel there are focused on the training of the recruits. The non training units are three Wonderbolt Units, who are there to perform the aerial show put on at all graduations. They will assist in training the recruits. There are several Aerial Combat Units who are stationed at the Fort at all times. All Aerial Combat Units are primarily based out of Fort Wind. Most are sent out to secondary posts at other bases. Many of them assist in Basic Training for various tasks. Aerial Combat School is conducted at Fort Wind to train new ACUs. Fort Griffin's Gate The Black Ops base. If it is secret, it happens at Fort Griffin's Gate. The name and location is a well guarded secret. The Fort is located in the North East corner of the Enclave, and is built almost entirely on the mountains, not clouds. Fort Griffin's Gate is the only Enclave military establishment to be completely on solid ground, It is a remote location, taking days to travel to from the closest city. No farms are nearby. The Base was built on the old battleground between the Griffin Army and the fledgling Enclave Military soon after the sky was sealed up. The Enclave won at great cost and was able to sack the Griffin Kingdom for resources. The Fort has a gate that opens up below the clouds to deploy troops from, if necessary. It is one of the few places with a built in gate for going below. All Wonderbolts have their primary post at Fort Griffin's Gate. All of the Wonderbolt training happens here. Wonderbolt testing is conducted elsewhere, but any training happens at the Fort. Units will head back to They have a small but well trained support staff at the Fort. The support staff are not Wonderbolts, but are still considered to be in the Wonderbolt family because of their devotion. New transfers do not happen often and most soldiers spend five or more years at the base. Mareland Joint Operations Base Mareland Joint Operations Base is the largest base in the Enclave. It was built soon after the clouds were sealed up. Joint operations was used because it was the first Enclave base to incorporate units from the war like the flying pegasus soldiers, ground pegasus units and cloudships, with new types of units being created out of the base. Previously, all of those units had been spread out over a few bases that focused on their job. Mareland served as a training hub for Basic Training for almost a century before it became too much and Fort Wind was created to serve that role and only that role. Mareland hosts Combat School, a secondary training for roles after Basic Training. Most who join the Enclave go to Combat School and get their crossed rifles devices to denote they passed Combat School. Nellie Air Force Base (Sky) Before the war, Las Pegasus was a split city, consisting of a land district and a sky district in the clouds. When the spells came, the sky portion was saved. Nellie Air Force Base was outside the city and targeted. Like the city, it had two districts. The sky district housed cloudships and many Pegasus soldiers. It trained a lot of Pegasus soldiers. That is why the sky district was known as Nellie Air Force Base. The sky portion stayed after the clouds were sealed up. It retained the Air Force title, despite becoming a base with many different types of soldiers stationed there. Nellie Air Force Base does teach secondary schools after Basic Training. Wasteland Fallout Equestria Characters Autumn Leaf Autumn Leaf is a hot shot First Lieutenant who is being fast tracked for leadership. He appears at Fort Wind and oversees part of the training there. He is stationed at Fort Wind to learn the training side of Leadership. While he is still a Lieutenant, he has been in this personalized program for some time and will be promoted to Major as soon as it is over. He is the only one set to fast track his time as an officer to higher leadership roles, which will land him as a Colonel when Little Pip meets him. * “Are you not supposed to be here to learn to lead the teaching side?” Lieutenant Marble Falls asked Lieutenant Autumn Leaf. “I thought the objective of your time here was to flesh you out so you could be the best officer in the Enclave. Or is that not what you want?” -- Chapter 14 Other Characters Family Lance Born Turnip Lance, nopony calls Lance Turnip, or they would find out why he is called Lance. Turnip Lance is the only son in the Turnip Family and inherited the Turnip Homestead. He is Shadow Flare's father. Rain Jubilee Rain Jubilee is Shadow Flare's mother. Although it is never spoken of, Rain Jubilee was first born to the Holly Bell Homestead and her marriage to Turnip Lance was arranged by both homesteads to bring new blood into the Turnip Homestead and some cash into the Holly Bell Homestead. Lunar Harvest Lunar Harvest is Lance's and Rain Jubilee's first born daughter. She was named Lunar Harvest because Lance had to work late into the night for their Harvest. Buck Buck is Black's second son, a parsnip farmer. He married Lunar Harvest and is set to inherit the Turnip Homestead. Spice Cake Spice Cake is Lance's and Rain Jubilee's second foal. She marries Rift, the only foal of a small farm nearby. Early Blossom Early Blossom Lance's and Rain Jubilee's fourth. She marries Cherry Tart, discovering she is a filly fooler. Together they founded West Cherry Homestead: Filly Fooler Farm. Dream Catcher Dream Catcher is Shadow Flare's younger sister by three years and is the fifth foal for Lance and Rain Jubilee. She looks up to Shadow and he is her hero. She has a dark red coat and stark white mane with a cross for her Cutie Mark. She is a healer and caretaker in their community. Black Black Sky is Lance's best friend. They say they have been friends before they were born. They grew up together and even went off to help with some disasters and large projects in father away communities when they were needed. Black is married to Golden Harvest and he is Buck's father. Black is one pony you do not mess with. Black's glare is enough to chill your bones and he is well respected in the community. His word is final. Cherry Tart Cherry Tart is the third foal of Red and Yellow. She is born to the Cherry Homestead and is sent west to found a subsidiary Homestead. She meets Early Blossom on the way and the two of them discover they are filly foolers. They found West Cherry Homestead: Filly Fooler Farm. Training Deke Olive Pit Golden Dawn Officers Red River Wind Whisper Marble Falls Nova Inquisitors Winters Breath Silent Wind Storm Eye Apple Slice Nor'easter Thunder Clap Unit 12 Lemon Lime Raspberry Lemonade Fountain Cinnimon Swirl Miscellaneous Honey Bee The Captain Sweet Waters Crystal Kiss Dahlia Mwokozi Green Shield A Lieutenant who has a year experience on Deke and who has proven troublesome, starting a rivalry between the two. Cloudships Red Dawn Solar Flash Magnus Buttercup The Lord Clove Net Layers Historical Characters Rainbow Dash Rainbow Dash's Shadow Old War Weapons & Armor Naval Gun Anti Air Gun Pegasus Bombs Applesnack Submachine Gun Apple Jack Rifle RD-44 Rifle Zebra Type 38 Rifle Zebra Type 92 Machine Gun Zebra Type 41 Combat Knife Type 94 Mountain Gun Type 98 Cannon Type 96 Anti Air Guns Type 26 Revolver Type 14 Pistol Type 98 Sword Xyuzunto Saber Type 95 Uniform Type 2 Combat Armor Behind the Scenes NOTE: Since this story is ongoing and the written/edited chapters are ahead of the releases, trivia facts will be updated ahead of the releases so that nothing is missed. (I, Mindrop, love to point out the fun facts in any of my stories. And dispel any coincidences.) * Fort Wind is, in part, named after Retired Wonderbolt Wind Rider from Season 5, Episode 15, Rarity Investigates. * The cadences are real cadences. * Mareland Joint Operations Base is based on Lackland Air Force Base which is part of Joint Base San Antonio, where all branches of the U.S. Military have personnel stationed there. It is the second largest Joint military base in the U.S.. * The cloudship Red Dawn has no correlation with the movie. * The cloudship Solar is named for the USS Solar, a Buckly-class destroyer escort of the United States Navy in WW2. * Unit 731 borrows the name for the WW2 Japanese Imperial Military Unit 731. In name only. * Radar Barracks pays homage to Radar from the T.V. show M.A.S.H.. * Green Jewelry is the name of a small Jewelry store in the hometown of the Author. * Sanctuary is based on Sanctuary from Fallout 4. * Stable 68's Location is based on Vault 111's location from Fallout 4, outside and above Sanctuary. 68 is also one the author's special numbers. * Quarry Geckos pay homage to the Geckos from Fallout New Vegas. * The books Cardinal Spitfire gets in Chapter 37 are real books with minor adjustments to name and title to fit with the MLP Theme. * Baltimare is, in part, inspired by The Commonwealth from Fallout 4. * Super Ponies are based on Super Mutants from Fallout, specifically Fallout 4. * Dry Dock City is loosely based on Rivet City from Fallout 3. * The Glowing Sea is based on the Glowing Sea from Fallout 4. * Fort Strong is based on Fort Strong from Fallout 4. * Equestria Naval Academy is based on the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis Maryland, just south of Baltimore. * Ponypsco River is based on the Parapsco River which Baltimore is centered around. * Stable 50's experiment is based on Vault 81 from Fallout 4 and mixed with the Forced Evolutionary Virus (FEV/F.E.V.) from Fallout 4. * F. Oatbrien is ponified William F. O'Brien. The poem "Better to try and fail than never to try at all" is quoted in its entirety. * Crystal Kiss is accidentally based on Lily Bowen, a companion in Fallout New Vegas. Editing brought the correlation to my mind. * The SEED School of Baltimare is based on The SEED School of Maryland. * Zebra weapons were given numbers. "Type ##". These a based on the Japanese Imperial Army's Weapons. This includes the weapons numbers being assigned by the calendar it was developed. * Unit 731 is named for the Japanese Imperial Military Unit 731. In name only. * The Applesnack Submachine Gun is designed after the Thompson 'Tommy' Submachine Gun. * The Apple Jack Rifle, or A.J.R is designed after the Browning Automatic Rifle, B.A.R.. * The RD-44 rifle is designed after the German Sturmgewehr 44 Rifle. * The Lord Clove is named for the Monitor, the HMS Lord Clive. * The Net Layers are a direct reference to Buffy, Willow, and Xander from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.